Car construction



Oct. 1, 1935. M. c. BLEST CAR CONSiRUCTION Filed Jan. 15, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l Oct. 1, 1935. M. c. BLEST CAR CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 15, 1931 2 Sheets-She et 2 INVENTOR Patented Oct. 1, 1935 UNITED STATES- PATENT OFFICE r 2,015,780 CAR. CONSTRUCTION Minot 0. Blest, Avalon, Pa., assignor to Pressed Steel Car Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., 2. corporation of New Jersey Application January 15, 1931, Serial No. 508,827

9 Claims. (Cl. 105-377) My'invention relates to railway cars and par- 1 tic'ularly that type of car known as a refrigerator car and has for its object the provision of a hatch cover and sealing plug which automatically seals the hatch opening as the cover is lowered into position.

Another object of my invention is to provide I ing a hatch coverand sealing plug embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the car showing my invention; Fig. 3 is a section taken along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1 and shows in e1eva-, tion the hatch coverand plug; Fig. ,4 vis a modification of the means shown in Fig. 2 for securing the cover in partly raised position; Fig.

5 is a plan-view of the linkfi and Fig. 6 is-a section along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring now in: detail to the-drawings where-- like reference characters refer to like parts, reference character 1 indicates a refrigerator car having a hatch opening 2,, a hatch cover '3; a plug 4 for sealing the hatch opening and a hatch cover operatinghandle-S secured to the cover and pivotally mounted bracketssecured to the car adjacent one side of the hatch opening. The plug 4 is suspended from the cover 3 by means of links 6 and 1 which are of unequal length and-mounted on opposite; sides of the plug. The shorter link- 6 connects the plug. and hatch cover atwthe side of the hateh opening adjacent the pivotal .con-

nectiompfthe handle 'to the car body which side, for convenience. will hereinafter becalled :v the-rear of ;the hatch openinga'lhe link I, con-w necting' plug to; the coveradj acent the front-w: of theopening, is;pivotally mounted on the cover: :the plug 4 permits the initial openin'g pfi the q. front :rpart-iof the -I cover while allowing the plug 3 ndjs c edtot ep albs-means of amember.

atqdaend portiongto provide for movement of the link relative to the plug.

From an inspection of Fig. 3 of the drawings it will be apparent that the upper portion of the hatch opening slopes inwardly for a portion of the depth of the opening and the hatch plug has a resilient insulating member surrounding the periphery of the plug so as to permit the plug when moved downwardly to be forced into enof the hatch cover.

m asshown inFig's; 1 and a a'nditis desired to raise the cover into the position shown-in gagement with the sides of the opening to seal the opening against escape of the cooling medium :or the entrance of the outer air.

As shown in Figs. land 3 of the drawings the operating handle is preferably of a substantially 5 U-shape with the free ends of the arms being pivoted to the car body adjacent the rear of the hatch opening. Inwardly of such pivotal connection, the arms are secured to the hatch cover so that in addition to forming a handle for operatl0 ing the cover the ends provide a hinged connection between the hatch cover and car body. The

- closed portion of the operating handle is preferably bifurcated so as to form a guide for a member 9 which is pivotally mounted to. the 15 car body adjacent the front of the hatch opening and which is disposed over the hatch cover and operating handle when the cover is in closed position. Within the bifurcation and secured to a the handle is a tooth-shaped member 10 which 20 provides a bearing for the member 9 asthe hatch coveris raised and which is adapted to engage with suitable spaced notches II in the member 9 to support the hatch cover in partly raised position. Suitably spaced openings l2 in the mem- 25 ber 9 which coincide with a similar opening 13 in the bifurcated portion of the-handle provide means for the insertion of a locking member' l4 to secure the hatch cover inpartly raised orcompletely closed position and .prevent accidental movement of the hatch cover during'the time the wear is in transit or othentimes when it may be desirable to prevent the changingof the position Assuming the hatch cover tube in closediposidot-and-dash'lines-on Fig? the action ls' -as follows? the operator removes the locking-pin? 14 from the "openings; l2 and I3*ofqtheimember fi .9 and handle! after lwhichsthehandle 5"is{ro tated about its pivotal connections to ithei-ca will. be apparent from 'FlgL- B the length of the=1ink-"|:-and its method bfattachm'ent t to remain: imposition.- iLmsrtheE-IhatclicOver continues its upward movement the shorter link 6 at the rear of the plug causes an upward movement of the rear of the plug, breaking the seal 50 between the plug and the adjacent side of the hatch opening after which the front link 'Ilifts the front of the plug and for the remainder of the opening movement the hatch cover and plug move as a unit. The importance of the initial 55 unequal movement of the plug within the opening is more readily appreciated upon consideration of the fact that the plug was forcibly moved down into the opening to form a seal and usually becomes frozen in place by the moisture on the sides of the hatch opening turning to ice. The advantage in having the rear end of the plug separate from the hatch opening before the front end is readily apparent since the handle is ful- 'crumed to the car at the rear of the opening gaged by the toothed member l0, permit the cover to be supported in various partly opened positions. If desired, a locking member may be inserted through the openings l2 and I3 in the handle and member 9 so as to lock the cover in this partly raised position to provide for the ventilating of the interior of the car body. If desired, the cover may be completely opened and lad back against the roof of the car body and the member 9 may be moved on its pivotal con-. nection so as to provide a free and uninterrupted entrance to the hatch opening. When the hatch cover is moved to closed position, the rear portion of the plug moves into the hatch opening first and pivoting about the link 6 automatically centers itself within the opening before the cover reaches closed position. This centering of the plu is permitted by the link 1. pivoting and sliding within the member 8. After the plug has thus centered itself within the opening, the cover in moving downward, engages with the front and rear portions of the plug forcing the plug into a sealing position as the cover comes to rest over the opening.

A modification in the means for holding the cover in partly raised position is shown by Fig. 4. Here the member ID is replaced by a bar l5 and the notches IS in the member 9 are rounded at their inner end so as to form a socket into which the member I5 moves. In this manner the members l5 and 9 are held against separat'on until the locking member l4 can be inserted within the openings I2 and I3.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a refrigerator car in combination, a hatch opening, a hatch cover hinged at one side of said opening and a hatch plug suspended from said cover so as to be movable relative thereto, said plug automatically centering itself within said opening independently of said cover upon movement of the cover into a position closing the hatch opening.

2. In a refrigerator car in combination, a hatch opening, a. hatch cover hinged at one side of said opening, a hatch plug for sealing said opening and suspended from said cover, said plug automatically centering itself within said opening independently of said cover as the cover is lowered and being forced into sealing position as the cover comes to rest over said opening.

3. In a refrigerator car in combination, a hatch opening, a hatch cover hinged adjacent one side of said opening, a plug for sealing said opening, links connecting opposite sides of said plug to said cover, said links being of unequal length.

4. In a refrigerator car in combination, a hatch opening, a hatch cover, a plug for sealing said opening, an operating handle secured in fixed relation to said cover and hinged to the car adjacent one side of said opening, and links of unequal length connected adjacent opposite sides of the plug and to said hatch cover.

5. In a refrigerator car in combination, a hatch opening, a hatch cover, a plug for sealing said opening and suspended from said cover for movement relative thereto, an operating handle secured in fixed relation to said cover and hinged to the car adjacent one side of said hatch opening, a member hinged to the car adjacent to and overlapping said handle when the cover is in closed position, a notch in said member and a tooth on said handle disposed beneath said memher, said tooth engaging with said notch to support the cover in partly opened position.

6. In a refrigerator car, in combination, a

hatch opening, a. hatch cover hinged to the car a jacent one side of the opening, a hatch plug for sealing said opening and suspended from said cover, said hatch plug being operable upon movement of the cover and having an opening movement reversed indirection from the opening movement of said cover after which the plug follows the cover in opening. 7. In a refrigerator car, in combination, a hatch opening, a hinged cover for the opening adapted to lie'substantially flat across the open ing, a hatch plug suspended from the cover, an operating handle for the cover hinged to the car and adapted'to exert an initial opening movement of the plug adjacent but one margin of the lug.

8. In a refrigerator car, in combination, a

\\ hatch opening, a hatch cover, a, plug for seating within said opening and movably suspended from cover, and a link pivotally suspending the plug from adjacent the opposite margin of the cover so as to permit restricted movement of the plug to and from the cover upon movement of the cover relative to the hatch opening.

MINOT C. BLEST. 

